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Is your faith merely a product of your location and culture? |
Here’s a conceit that atheists allow themselves that would be amusing if it weren’t so utterly false and insulting to everyone who’s not an atheist. It goes something like this:
If you believe in God, you’re a slave to beliefs imposed upon you in your youth. You’re a slave to the beliefs from the area of the world and culture you grew up with. On the other hand if you’re an atheist, you’re not subject to such imposition, and have freed yourself of such beliefs. Of course they don’t put it that way, they usually phrase it something like this:
Dear theists: If you were born in India you’d be Hindu if you were born in Iraq you’d be Muslim if you were born… I’d still be an atheist
— Atheist World (@AtheistWorld)
August 29, 2013
Did you catch the conceit? Apparently, atheists believe they are somehow superior and they and only they have the power to choose what they believe. They thereby implicitly state that theists are weak and ignorant; and explicitly state theists are slaves to whatever belief was imposed upon them while they were growing up. What remains unanswered is for atheists who grew up in a family with theistic beliefs, why they too didn’t remain a slave to such beliefs?
Others1 have addressed this topic, but let me try to succinctly add some glaring issues with this argument:
First off it’s logically fallacious, falling to the logical fallacy of Special Pleading -where the arguer finds fault with a particular proposition or situation; yet they themselves fit the proposition or situation. Nonetheless they believe their conclusion does not apply to them – and provide no reason for believing themselves to be the exception. This is a classic case of irrational special pleading.
Secondly, many atheists continue to believe that because they don’t believe in God, they therefore remain unencumbered and free from theology because they don’t believe in God. But atheism is a theology (although false) and for an atheist to believe they do not make statements about the nature of the reality of God is like a flat earth believer stating they’re only making statements about the geometry of the land surface; not the nature of the structure of the earth. Obviously both are nonsense. There is also an implication to the atheist conceit that they neither realize, nor properly apply, so let me do so here.
To begin, let’s dispense with the atheistic special pleading. Once you do so, the logical extension of atheist belief is that all are subject to a certain set of beliefs. That misses the mark. What is true is that all are subject to rebellion against God – not accepting the Kingship of God and rebelling against his commands. Those who recognize this condition realize they need to make amends and peace needs to be made with God. The problem is man tends to come up with his own solutions – solutions that wind up enshrined in false philosophies and false religions.
Man, in and of himself, is unable to please God2. That is why God himself made a way through his son Jesus, who died and rose on the third day3 to make a way for all those who are stained with the of rebellion of Adam’s sin4 – a way to live with Him forever when they (meaning you) believe that Jesus died and rose for them, and accept him as Lord and Savior.5
Someone will tell me that’s all Christian theology. Granted, it is – based on the historical faith that is Christianity. The death and resurrection of Jesus is all very well documented, as are the miracles of Jesus, so I have good reason to believe it. But what basis does an atheist have to disbelieve? Let me clarify that. What reason, once you eliminate all the irrational arguments, special pleadings and the faith in irrational scientific beliefs (like life comes from lifelessness and universes come from nothing) – what rational reason can an atheist point to justify their beliefs? I find that generally beneath it all many atheists are simply angry at God because God didn’t do something they thought he should have (or vice versa), but anger at God for some imagined wrong does not mean God does not exist. Obviously it’s quite the opposite.
I submit, there are no rational reasons for atheism, only irrational ones (like the above one), which is why atheists keep spouting irrational beliefs – because they’re backed by irrational arguments and false conceits. Because whenever you take a closer look, there simply are no rational arguments that fit both atheistic beliefs and the nature of reality. If atheists were honest with themselves and stop the special pleadings, they’d admit that life does not come from lifelessness; and clearly designed creatures and universes do not come from random processes – however amount of time you give them.
But atheists prefer thinking themselves superior; and that the nonsense stories they tell are true. And so they will continue with their special pleadings and false arguments – such as the one we’re looking at today – namely that theists are products of their environment while atheists have somehow overcome that. When you come across such patently incorrect and irrational arguments, try not to laugh out loud at them – increasingly atheists tend to anger easily, especially when shown how irrational their arguments are, and how foolish it makes them look – trying to defend the irrational.
Duane Caldwell | posted 7/22/2014 | print format
Related Article:
AD Apologetics Part 2: Jesus’ Triumphant Resurrection
1. Josh Fults does a write up here:
http://joshfults.com/2012/11/28/apologetic-wednesday-are-beliefs-the-result-of-where-one-is-born/
2. 1 Thess 4.1; Heb 11.6
3. 1 Cor 15.3-6
4. John 14.1-2; Rom 5.19
5 Rom 10.9-10; Acts 2.36
